Most dual or triple-sport athletes reach a point in their high school career when they have to choose which sport, if any, they want to pursue in college.
But not Jaden Ferguson.
As a first-year at Lehigh, Ferguson is both a receiver on the football team and a jumper on the track and field team.
He started playing football soon after finishing second grade. He didn’t start running track until sixth grade because there was no local track and field team available to him. But once he began running, he stuck with it.
Ferguson said throughout high school, he was primarily interested in pursuing track and field, and he didn’t open up to the idea of football recruitment until later on.
“As I started to get a little better at football, I was like, ‘Alright, I really want to do this,’” Ferguson said. “But I had already done some really big things (on) track and I was still doing them.”
Ferguson began his high school career at his local public school in Charlottesville, Virginia, but eventually transferred to Woodberry Forest School. He said once he made that switch, he recognized the possibility of playing two sports in college.
“As I went to Woodberry and things picked up, I realized I wanted to just be able to do good in both,” Ferguson said.
For Ferguson, this was an option.
Lehigh football wide receiver coach Mark McMaster said he first discovered Ferguson through his high school track and field stats. The football team uses a variety of databases when recruiting a new class, including some that show track and field information, he said.
As a triple jump national champion, a three-time All-American track and field athlete and a state record holder in both high jump and the 4×100 relay race, McMaster said Ferguson’s strong accolades made him stand out as a candidate for the receiver position.
“As far as how it’s translatable, it’s just pure athleticism,” McMaster said. “Obviously, high jump and long jump show explosiveness, 100-meters show speed and football is all-inclusive.”
Ferguson received his offer to play football at Lehigh in the summer of 2023. During one of his first visits to campus, he met with football coach Kevin Cahill and expressed his interest in being a part of both the track and football teams.
“On the spot, (Cahill) told me, ‘We can work that out,’” Ferguson said. “Not long afterwards, I committed.”
McMaster said he was able to identify that track and field was important to Ferguson early in the football recruiting process.
Being a varsity athlete at a Division I school comes with challenges, especially for two-sport athletes, so McMaster and Cahill wanted to ensure Ferguson would be able to keep up.
McMaster said he and Cahill reached out to Lehigh’s track coaches to confirm that double recruitment was possible, and they affirmed that Ferguson had the talent to be on the track team, too.
By winter, Ferguson was signed.
“It’s going to be a daunting task, but I think he’s up for it,” Cahill said.
Ferguson arrived on campus this summer for football camp and is currently in the midst of the football season.
Indoor track and field starts in the winter, and outdoor track and field will start in the spring.
Ferguson said he’s looking forward to the familiarity the track and field season brings.
“When I jump into track, I’ll be straight back to the drills I know,” Ferguson said. “It’s the same jump every time, and I’ve been doing it for a while.”
Though training for track and field hasn’t yet started, McMaster said Ferguson has begun going to pre-season meetings, while also attending football practices and games.
Ferguson said he’s excited about the team’s performance so far. Currently, the team is 3-1 in their first four games, the best start to a season in nine years.
Ferguson said transitioning into college life while playing two Division I sports is extremely challenging, but his high school prepared him well.
He also said outside of sports, he operates on his own schedule, and developing time management skills has been the most important thing to him.
Cahill said Ferguson is doing a great job so far in balancing the two sports on top of a Lehigh academic workload.
“He’s an awesome kid,” Cahill said. “We’re looking forward to his future and working with him to be a great representative of Lehigh University.”
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